Sofia, May 2025 – One of the most original and distinctive voices in contemporary photography, Bieke Depoorter, arrives in Sofia with her exhibition CROSSINGS, part of FotoFabrika Festival 2025. The exhibition will be on view from June 5 to July 20 at the Sofia City Art Gallery.

The exhibition presents four of Depoorter’s most iconic series and spans a wide thematic range – from intimate portraits and cultural clashes to explorations of borders – visible and invisible, personal and political. Depoorter approaches “the other” with remarkable sensitivity – the stranger who gradually turns into a mirror of ourselves.

SERIES PRESENTED IN THE EXHIBITION:

I am about to call it a day (2010–2014): A photographic narrative of vulnerability and closeness – images from American homes where Depoorter was welcomed as a guest by complete strangers.

Border Birds (2022): A collaborative project with Dries Depoorter, using AI software to detect birds flying over international borders – a poetic and political commentary on movement and control.As it May Be (2011–2017): A long-term exploration of Egypt after the Arab Spring, in which the artist collects handwritten thoughts from Egyptian citizens directly on her earlier photographs from the country, allowing the original images to slowly “disappear.”

Blinked Myself Awake (2020–2024): A deeply personal and philosophical project dedicated to memory, the cosmos, and the way the human gaze seeks answers in the stars.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Bieke Depoorter (b. 1986) is a Belgian photographer who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. In 2012, she was nominated to join the legendary Magnum Photos agency, becoming a full member in 2016. Her projects often emerge from chance encounters and evolve into intimate visual stories that challenge the nature of photography itself. She is the author of six books and the recipient of numerous international awards, including the Magnum Expression Award, the Larry Sultan Photography Award, and the Prix Levallois. She has also been nominated for the Deutsche Börse

Photography Foundation Prize.